TACLA believes in the power of listening to and recording the stories and wisdoms of those who came before us and did the necessary work to pave a way for us in the present.
We also believe in using our creative abilities to engage, expand, and critique the work of our elders to tell stories that dream of abundant futures.
Formerly “The Asian Canadian Living Archive”, TACLA now goes by an acronym with no fixed referent, to reflect the political and narrative grapplings of the Asian diasporic community.
Archive As Genealogies
TACLA has a threefold mandate in our activities:
- To Coalesce: To connect and bring pan-Asian artists in dialogue, creation and resistance
- To Keep: To imaginatively remember histories, presents, and stories of pan-Asian Canadian artist communities
- To Witness: To animate knowledge in nonlinear and flexible ways to empower, educate and strengthen communities
Content
What goes in TACLA?
In phase one, we will be actively sourcing, brainstorming and pitching TACLA’s ideas to groups of people, partnering with community organizations to pilot initiatives.
In phase two, we will begin co-constructing multimedia artist profiles, compile a directory of active community arts and grassroots initiatives in the GTA, publish critical intertexts in the form of introductions and reviews produced by our communities, and program animation and outreach events throughout the GTA.
Principles
How does TACLA work?
TACLA is committed to working collaboratively in decolonial praxis and radical imagination, which means critically working in solidarity with and toward pan-Asian communities.
We understand that allyship requires a spirit of humility, listening, and a willingness to be open and held accountable to build relationships communally through the many different histories, cultures and positionalities that make the pan Asian diaspora on Turtle Island.